Residents of Sao Paolo, Brazil, should be proud that their megacity is the only one that uses biofuel for cars. Or maybe not, considering that a lot of this environmental good is undone because everyone loves pizza too much.

Climate change mitigation could actually increase water shortage in some areas rather than reduce it, according to new research. The source of the problem is clear: greater demand for biofuels, intended to reduce emissions from fossil fuels, requires massive increases in irrigation in productive but relatively arid…

In the twentieth century, oil was black gold. But as we march deeper into the twenty-first century, we could have a lucrative new fuel on our hands. One that’s blue-green and sometimes a little smelly. It’s found in wastewater, but it’s capable of powering jets. It’s algae.

If humans are going to keep living in the style to which we're accustomed, we need to find alternatives for fossil fuels. Partly that's because we need to reduce pollution — and partly because those fossil fuels are going to run out. But alternative forms of energy may look a lot weirder than you think.

Cars didn't always run on gasoline. Henry Ford envisioned his Model T's puttering along with tanks fully of ethanol. Early diesel engines ran on peanut oil. Of course, the discovery of massive petroleum reserves at the turn of the 20th century quickly put the brakes on that notion—why bother creating biofuel when…

Imagine a bacteria that could not only suck the excess CO2 out of the air, but turn that waste gas into a clean-burning biofuel for cars. If the current research on genetically-engineered bacteria goes to plan at MIT, these wonder creatures could help solve our energy and climate woes.

It appears that brown is the new green. The Denver Zoo has decided to make use of all that primo animal poop that comes out of its residents and convert it into fuel. Now you can tour the zoo (and enjoy a frozen margarita) with the aid of this poo-power.

Car that runs on coffee? Check. Coffee-car that beats landspeed records? Not so check, until now. With this update to the original "Carpuccino," the Teesdale Conservation Volunteers have built a car that can hit 66.5mph running just on coffee beans, making it the fast gasification-powered car ever.

Proving that everything in Nevada is able to withstand stupefying levels of heat, a newly-discovered microbe from the state is not only able to survive temperatures above boiling, but is also one of the only microbes who can digest cellulose at high temperatures.

With water shortages looming in the future, we need new ways to clean water that's been fouled by human waste, agricultural runoff and industry. A new article published in BioScience (free PDF link) shows that we can use naturally-occurring algae as a filter. The plants would not only make the water suitable for…

Biofuels are made from carbohydrates and fats in corn and other feedstock. This is a wasteful process because it leaves behind all the protein, a far more abundant substance. As a result, one of the big questions for alternative energy researchers is how we can pull biofuel from protein. Especially because proteins…

Thanks to a $274,000 grant from the Federal Railroad Administration, Amtrak will soon run its Heartland Flyer rail line on beef byproduct biodiesel for a 12-month trial period. Obviously, the Heartland Flyer needs a new, titter-worthy name.